Freight hook



Dec. 15, 1931. E. A. NORMAND FREIGHT HOOK Flled July 23, 1930 IN V ENTOR. RWEfiTA AWMAA/D- I. H15 A TTOR NE Y Patented Dec 15, 1931 sUNITED'STATES PATENT OFFICE v ERNEST A. N ORMAND, OF SAN FRANCISCO,CALIFORNIA FIR-EIGHT HOOK Applicationiiled July 23,1930. Serial No.470,013.

My invention relates to hand hooks for nates the necessity of thestevedore working handling packages of freight, and particuwith his armin a bent position. larly to a device having a spatulate hook, In termsof greater detail the hook of my v An object of my invention is toprovide invention comprises a plate formed into a a hook that will notinjure paperboard curved spatulate engaging hook2 preferably cartons.made of a mild sheet steel and having the Another object is to providesuch spatuteeth 3 disposed at intervals along its edge late hook adaptedto be held directly in the to engage the freight or package to be 1hand. handled.

The invention possesses other objects and To insure that the teeth willnot sink too features of advantage, some of which, with far into thepackage a transverse guard the foregoing, will be set forth in thefollowfl ge l is provided along the edge of the in d cripti f y i vetion, It i to b hook in line with the bases of the teeth. Thisunderstood that I do not limit myself to this flange is preferablyformed as shown in Figdisclosure of species of my invention, as I ure 3by having the teeth punched out of the may adopt variant embodimentsthereof withflange as the latter is bent back. This rei th Scope f th li quires a relatively expensive die, however,

Referring to the drawings: and an almost equally satisfactory structureFigure 1 is a longitudinal elevation of the can be obtained by slottingthe edge and 20 b k f my i ti h i a ti of th bending back the portions 6to form a disspatulate member cut away, as indicated by continuousflange as shown in Figure 4, while the line 11 of Figure 2. p v otherportions are sharpened to form the Figure 2 is a front elevation of thespatuteeth as before. This latter construction is lat gin member l nless expensive if the hooks are manufactured Figure 3 is a perspectivefragmentary de- 1 Small quantities.

tail view showing the preferred manner of he Spatulate hook-of myinvention is forming the engaging edge. preferably adapted to beremovably attached Figure 4 is a perspective fragmentary det0 a rdinaryfr gh hook, such as that tail View showing an alternative form of shownin Figure 1, which comprises a curved engaging d hook 7, an intermediatecurved shank 8, and

Figure 5 is a view of the spatulate engag- P e h ndgrip 9 fixed thereon.ing member being held directly in the hand. l l me s are provided forholding In tems of broad inclusion my invention the spatulate llOOk 2 Onthe CLll'VGd hOOk P comprises a comparatively wide patulate In preferredform Sl'lOVVn, means freight hook having a plurality of short Q p p 11fixed 0n the b09112 n teeth along its engaging edge. A guard ChSPOSed toehghge the hook 7 adlaceht t flange is provided along the edge of thehook P 5 and Ph Sleeve 12 fixed hook in line with the bases of the teethto prevent gland adapted to engage the hook adlhceht the hook frompenetrating a fragile package i i The loop. 11 be a Separate a such as apaperboard carton. Vhile such {3 2 ofg al lf i fixed Onto 5 mam 90 ahook may be formed integrally in the same 0 0 1e 2 i It may b a {fusedor general Shape as the Ordinary pointed freight deformed portion if thehook 1s pressed or hook, I prefer to make the Spatul'ate f; a stampedout in a well known manner. The

sleeve 12 can be formed integrally with the 40 separate member adaptedto be removably hOOkQ, or it can made Separately and assembled Q ahorchhary hook so that welded or otherwise fixed on the hook 2. Instevedore will not have to carry two handles al however it i l expensiveto f A further advantage re des in the SGPZIIMC the sleeve integrallywith hook 2 as the labor hook construction, in that it permits the hookof attaching a separate sleeve costs more to be used directly in thehand which elimithan the material thus saved. I I

5 ously impossible to move the hook 2 relative to the hook 7 in anydirection lying in the plane of the paper except downward to slip theloop and sleeve along the hook 7. Unintentional movement in thisdirection is prev vented by the resilient grip exerted by the sleeve 12on the hook; and movement in the opposite direction is limited by thedimension of the loop 11. Similiarly on referring to Figure 2 it can beseen that it would be impossible to rotate the hook 2 in eitherdirection in the plane of the paper if the sleeve 1 and loop 11 werefixed in position.

-When handling relatively small packages it is somewhat easier for thestevedore to work with his arm in a straight or nearly straight positionthan it is to work with his arm bent or drawn in as it will be if he isusing the ordinary hook. It is to shorten the reach and thus lighten thework that provision is made to use the spatulate hook directly in thehand, as shown in Figure 5.

To facilitate such employment the depressions 13 are preferably formedin the surface of the hook 2 to offer an engaging surface to the fingertips. The back end 14 of the sleeve 12 is suitably rounded 05 so that itwill not injure the palm of the hand; and a strap 16 is inserted in asuitable loop 17 provided on the under side of sleeve 12 and is buckledabout the hand. The depressions 13 are de sirable for steadiness, butare not essential as the force is outward against the finger tips andthere is little tendency for the hook to slip. It will be noted alsothat the force exerted when the hook engages a package tends to pull thesleeve 12 away from the palm of the hand so that there is no particulardiscomfort caused by that member. I have found that the strap shown isthe most convenient method of holding the hook on the hand since it canbe removed and carried in the pocket comfortably and is not in the waywhen the hook 2 is used in conjunction with an ordinary freight hook.

I have found that the use of this hook of my invention reduces frei hthandling costs by speeding up the handling of paperboard and burlapwrapped packages, and that costs are further reduced by the decreaseddamage done the contents of such packages. This latter saving followsfrom the fact that the flange protected teeth on the hook of myinvention cannot penetrate deeply into a pack age; and further, thatless packages will be dropped if such a hook is used instead of the.

-' a transverse flange comprising a portion of the plate bent outwardlyadjacent the base of the teeth.

2. A spatulate freight hook comprising a plate having teeth along anedge thereof, and a discontinuous transverse flange fixed along the edgeof the plate adjacent the base of the teeth.

3. A spatulate freight hook comprisin a plate having teeth along an edgethereo a transverse flange fixed along the edge of the plate adjacentthe base of the teeth, and

means for removably attaching the plate to a human hand.

4;. A spatulate freight hook comprising a plate having teeth along anedge thereof, a transverse flange fixed along the edge of the plateadjacent the base of the teeth, and resilient loops on the plate forremo-vably attaching the plate to an ordinary freight hook.

5. A spatulate freight hook comprising a plate having teeth along anedge thereof, and means for removably attaching the plate to a humanhand, said plate extending beyond the ends of the fingers.

6. A spatulate freight hook comprising a plate having teeth along anedge thereof, means on the plate providing for its attachment to a humanhand, and means on the plate providing for its attachment to an ordinaryfreight'hook.

7. A spatulate freight hook comprisin a plate having teeth along an edgethereo a transverse flange fixed along the edge of the plate adjacentthe base of the teeth, means on the plate providing for its attachmentto a human hand, and means on the plate provid ing for its attachment toan ordinary freight hook. f

8. A spatulate freight hook comprising a plate having teeth along anedge thereof, and a loop adapted to receive a hand strap fixed adjacentthe opposite edge thereof.

9. A spatulate freight hook comprising a plate having teeth along anedge thereof, a transverse flange fixed along the edge of the plateadjacent the base of the teeth, a loop fixed on a face of the plate toreceive the point of an ordinary freight hook, a sleeve fixed adjacentan edge of the plate opposite the teeth to receive said ordinary freighthook, and a second loop adapted to receive a hand strap fixed on thesleeve.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set may hand.

ERNEST A. NORMAND.

